It is often desirable to have information about the status or capabilities of wired communications ports. Due to the increasing density of linecards, there may be inadequate space available for traditional labels. In communications ports that also have the capability of supplying electric power (such as Power over Ethernet—PoE), it is often important to identify situations where the cables are incapable of safely carrying the voltage or current levels supplied by the port, which could create an electrical or fire hazard. This problem is complicated when ports are software programmable to support multiple power levels.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.